


Popular

by ArcticShadow



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: M/M, Soulmate Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:23:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10593942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticShadow/pseuds/ArcticShadow
Summary: I came up with this idea while reading some of Delmire's fics. Hope you like it!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Delmire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delmire/gifts).



> I came up with this idea while reading some of Delmire's fics. Hope you like it!

Asami was sick and tired of dealing with all of the groupies that wanted to get together with him. He had no idea how many people had tried over the years to fake their soulmate mark so that they could be with him. Luckily he had been able to out them every time, but it had happened so much that he stopped hoping it to be real whenever his secretary Kirishima told him a new candidate had arrived. With how soulmate marks said the name of your significant other, it should be easy for Asami to tell who it should be so that nobody could fake it. But there was a critical road block to that.

Asami had no idea where his soulmate mark was.

Since the mark can be anywhere on the body and any size (up to a certain largeness of font), Asami had yet to find where his mark was, despite being in his mid thirties. Unfortunately, since his past classmates knew that, the information had been leaked and now everyone and their dog seemed to be trying to hook up with him, a rich bachelor of inhumanely good looks if the magazines were to be believed. It was irritating and rather depressing, if he were honest. All he wanted was for his real mate to show up, but instead he had to deal with money-grubbing fools who cared nothing about him, and despite his ice-cold personality that he showed, he really did want someone to genuinely care about him, and for him to care about back. After all this time, though, he had to wonder if his soulmate even cared about finding him.

So, it was with an annoyed attitude that he went to see the two latest candidates who had passed the preliminary tests. Arriving in the designated meeting room, Asami was surprised to find two blond-haired, blue eyed young men standing in the room. Those were the only characteristics the two shared, however. One wore a scowl, had messy hair and street clothes, and had his arms crossed while staring at the wall as if he wished to be out of the room as soon as possible. The other man was calm and poised, wore a nice suit, and had a polite smile on his face as he looked directly into Asami's eyes.

Kirishima, who followed Asami into the room, recited the usual instructions, "Alright gentlemen, while you have both managed to pass the preliminary tests-"

At this, the scowling man snorted. Kirishima continued smoothly, "...since there are two of you here, we know that at least one of you has faked your soul mark. As is customary, Asami-sama would like to get to know you and see your soul marks himself. By doing so, he could find something that would rule you out as a candidate. This will be done in a one-on-one setting, so Takaba-san, if you could follow me into the hallway for the moment, we will allow Asami-sama and Sudou-san some privacy."

Sighing, the messy-haired young man followed Kirishima out of the room. Asami could just hear a muttered "waste of time" as Takaba walked by him to exit the room. Asami couldn't help but wonder at that attitude. 'Why is he here if he has no desire to actually be here?'

Once the door had shut, Sudou bowed and formally introduced himself. "Hello Asami-sama, my name is Sudou Shu, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Asami Ryuichi, hopefully likewise," Asami automatically responded, giving a slight bow in return. They then exchanged business cards before sitting around the small table in the center of the room to talk with one another. Asami learned that Sudou worked for him, but the man wasn't high enough in position to have warranted a work meeting with him prior. The man was polite and confident, business-like. He didn't wheedle or flirt, and when Asami asked him to show his soulmate mark, the man removed his suit coat and shirt to show the words 'Asami Ryuichi' written in tiny print in the small of his back. Sudou explained that the location and size were what made it hard to figure out that it was a soulmate mark, let alone be able to read what it said, and that was why it had taken him so long to come find Asami.

The story was very believable, but Asami found a potential loophole in it; there were doctors around the world who would help one find their soulmate mark. Sudou clearly had money enough to afford one of those doctors if he could afford that suit. Still, there was a stigma about seeing a doctor for your soulmate mark, as it was seen as being stupid if you couldn't find something written on your body. Perhaps the man had too much pride to want to go that path. It didn't matter to Asami. He had gone to several top-notch doctors, and while they couldn't help him, he didn't feel any less of a person for using the tools given him.

Asami dismissed Sudou after a time. So far, the man had the most credibility of anyone he'd met. There was just something...off about him. Asami's people-sense had yet to fail him. Usually he could pinpoint when a person was faking or trying too hard, even if their act was seemingly perfect. So, while he would keep Sudou in mind, he wasn't about to go full sail with the man.

After a minute, the tousled young blond, Takaba, came into the room. His expression wasn't nearly as put-off as before. In fact, he now seemed nervous. The door shut and the young man jumped slightly before smiling wryly at himself and rubbing the back of his head. He took a big breath in before meeting Asami's eyes and speaking.

"Haha, guess I'm a bit nervous. Anyway, I'm Takaba Akihito, it's nice to actually get to talk with you after getting through all that stupid red tape. What the heck was that even for anyway? You're the only one who can tell who's telling the truth."

Asami raised an eyebrow at Takaba's informal banter. "Well, with how many people have tried to fake their mark, I have some of my employees handle the preliminary checks while I work on running my business. It weeds out a surprising number of candidates."

"But did they really have to scrub that hard? My neck is super raw now," Takaba said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Asami chuckled at the miffed expression of Takaba's face. "Well, your mark is still there, isn't it? The mixture they rub into the mark will dissolve even the ink in tattoos, so it was a rather necessary procedure. I'm assuming that your mark is on your neck, then?"

Takaba blushed a little before replying, "Yeah, but it's really hard to see, it's right at the base of my skull. My hair's always been too long to see it and it kinda blends in."

Asami admired the young man's pink cheeks before Takaba turned around and lifted his unruly hair out of the way. Asami got closer to look, and sure enough, the name was written in gold letters hiding within the hair follicles of the same color. Asami was pretty sure he would have missed it entirely if the spot hadn't been bright red from the scrubbing. He would have considered having his mark in the same spot if three different doctors hadn't gone through it with a fine-toothed comb, literally.

Takaba continued talking, "I'm pretty sure I lost some hair from this experience, so if I have a bald spot it's your fault."

Asami chuckled again before backing away and replying, "Don't worry, it looks fine. Now, how about you tell me more about yourself."

They moved to the table and began talking. Well, Akihito began talking. The young man didn't talk particularly much, it's just that Asami didn't have much to say back. Asami learned that Akihito was a news photographer, a profession he chose after a cop saved him from going down the wrong path. He was twenty-three years old, loved salty foods and sweets, and was a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

Akihito was completely relaxed, even excited, as he talked with Asami. The energy was a nice change of pace, it made the boy seem genuine. Asami found himself relaxed and with a genuine small smile on his face. 'This one could be very interesting.'

When they were through, Asami went and opened the door for Kirishima and Sudou to come back into the room. Sudou went to stand by Akihito, who'd stood up and was hovering at the front of the table. Kirishima then dismissed the two men, saying that they would hear soon what Asami's decision would be. The two blonds left with a guard and Kirishima closed the door as Asami went to sit at the table again before joining the man.

"It appears that you won't be merely sending dismissals this time. Does that mean one of them has potential?" Kirishima questioned.

"While neither of them failed, which was rather amazing in and of itself, one of them really stood out," Asami replied, clasping his hands on the desk.

"I assume it was Takaba Akihito, sir?" Kirishima asked while handing Asami a folder.

"Mm," was all Asami said while he took the proffered file. The efficiency of his secretary was almost eerie.

Asami scanned through the file and the information seemed to match or add upon what Akihito had told him. Handing the folder back to Kirishima, Asami instructed, "First set up a date with Sudou in order to rule him out, and then set one up with Akihito."

"Akihito, sir?" Kirishima asked with raised eyebrows.

Asami's eyes widened at the realization that he was no longer referring to the younger blond as Takaba. 'When did this happen?'

Asami could tell Kirishima was holding back a laugh as his secretary bowed and left the room.

******************

Asami was glad that he had a candidate besides Sudou. It didn't take long for the younger blond man to start showing his real intentions, letting his professional mask fall away to show a greedy wheedling suck up. Asami ended that date as soon as politely possible, but he'd definitely been tempted to fake a way out several times throughout the dinner. He let Kirishima know not to set a first date at a seven course meal restaurant from now on, so his date with Akihito was instead at a high-class steak restaurant.

Asami almost regretted the choice when the meal came to a close all too soon as the young man was the most entertaining person he'd seen in years. Akihito was clearly uncomfortable at such a restaurant, squirming and conversing nervously, but he obviously enjoyed the food if his clean plate and noises of appreciation said anything. Which of course made the choice of venue perfect. It was the best night Asami could remember having. If Akihito hadn't had an early-morning shoot the next day, he'd have offered to extend the date beyond dinner.

Tonight was his next date with the young blond, and he was looking forward to it, despite the venue Akihito chose. He wanted to go to an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, and while Asami found the best one he could, he still wasn't sure how good of quality food not made to order would be.

It turned out a lot better than he had expected it would. While he hadn't really enjoyed the food, he hadn't hated it either, but once again Akihito made his night great. The blond loved this food in a different way than he had the steak, and he'd packed away more sushi than Asami cared to count. The boy was occasionally groaning from the amount he'd eaten, but that didn't stop him from bouncing around the arcade they went to after that.

It was during their third date that Asami decided to hold Akihito's hand and found that the innocent young man blushed a very appealing shade of red when embarrassed. Their fourth date brought about Asami giving Akihito a gift of a giant chocolate camera (special order, of course), and their fifth date had Akihito replying with a framed photo of Tokyo at night as seen from the top of Asami's office building.

Right after their sixth date, though, is when IT happened.

Asami got hit by a car that ran a red light.

The man had seen what was happening as he and Akihito were crossing the street to get to the shop Akihito wanted to show him. Asami had shoved Akihito out of the way just before the car had collided with him. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hospital bed a day later.

Kirishima gave him the rundown of what happened after the doctor's insured that Asami did indeed remember who he was and when it was and such, considering he had gotten a concussion bad enough to knock him out. Kirishima had the man who'd hit Asami tracked down within the hour, as he didn't stay at the scene. After some interrogation, they had learned that he had been paid to hit Akihito, not Asami, by one Sudou Shu. Kirishima had then gotten hold of Sudou who was awaiting Asami's retribution.

In the end, Asami had gotten out of the accident with a concussion, a broken arm and a sprained ankle and wrist. And apparently one more thing.

Kirishima held up a mirror to Asami. Asami had hit his head at such an angle that it abraded a good amount of skin. He now had a bald spot with a large patch of gauze over it, an iodine stain surrounding that, and silvery words so pale they looked like scars poking just out from underneath the bandage.

"The mark exactly matches the skin of your scalp, sir," Kirishima explained as Asami just stared at the words. "Had you not injured your head just there, we may have never found it. And yes, it does say who you think it does."

"I saw it myself," came a voice from the doorway. Asami turned to look at Akihito standing there, a large stuffed animal in his arms. The golden-eyed man raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous plush before stretching out his hand to Akihito, who walked over and murmured softly, "I'm glad you're okay. Thanks for protecting me."

"Always," the older man replied.

And he truly always would.


End file.
